July
In our continued effort to support the arts in Detroit, thedetroiter.com and Elitist Publications are collaborating to showcase local authors and their works.
Submissions to thedetroiter.com's
new lit section can be made
C/O Elitist Publications
869 Longfellow
Detroit, Michigan
48202
For more information on Elitist Publications check them out on the web at www.elitistpublications.com
July's Selections:
Sometimes a moment is all you need to write a good story or poem. In a single second your life could be altered forever. The selections for this month's lit section are exactly that, mere moments in time, but still unforgettable. — Eric Novack, Editor
Random Intervals by Lt. Alex Owen
Whisper By Bridget Nimbach
Propped Up By Stephen Nantz
Random Intervals
By Lt. Alex Owen
I hate this. Why can't I sleep? My eyes are closed, my breathing slow and rhythmical, but my mind is racing through an endless trough of mental trash. The sort of garbage that is never actually thought of because it's simply not worth the effort, and which isn't remembered five minutes later anyway. In fact, I'm fairly sure that I've been recycling the same group of ideas for the last half hour or so, I can't say for sure though, as I mentioned, I can't remember. Basically I'm just taking a longtime to bore myself into a blinding rage which will inevitably make it a perfect certainty that I will never sleep again. At entirely random intervals I'll make a real attempt to not think at all, the supposition being that if I can do this for about five minutes I'll probably fall asleep. But these trying attempts always end when I rekindle my absurd train of thought by congratulating myself on the effort. You'd think that knowing the many and varied pitfalls of falling asleep I'd be able to avoid them, but this is quite clearly not true. It's at times…like…these…that I….wonder……….zzzzzzzzz.
Lt. Alex Owen has a BA from St. John's College. He rarely finds the time to write, but when he does his work shows true grit and an unfettered honesty that most writers seem to lack. Lt. Owen is currently in the United States Army and stationed in New York, his unit will be deployed to Iraq this summer.
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The hot sun had me walking quickly to my destination
Little did I know that the music would be my landed fate
A melody, melancholy Irish flute grasped my soul
The fluttering of the notes
The high pitched cries
Echo through my being
Song after song he tantalizes me
To listen deeper
My foreign roots are dancing about
I yearn to be with my forefathers
I lay in the heater
I journey the hills
The green is true
I sense it all as each note sings
I cry
I breathe deeply as the calling speaks gently
The harmonic scenery fades away
I find myself in a position that soothes me
I rest with the silence
I eavesdrop for more
He is done
I gather myself and in the air between us
I whisper a sincere and tender thank you
Bridget Nimbach is currently attending Wayne State University in pursuit of her teaching certificate. She writes as a hobby and "when beautiful moments occur."
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There in a corner of my mind is a lie
It sits there looking at me as though I were god
Knowing that I can keep it alive or kill it
With that in hand where does it go?
Nowhere it sits in the corner of my mind, staring at me.
All propped up.
What hope does it have of surviving?
Can it rely on me to keep it fresh, to give it nourishment?
What if I forget about it, it wonders.
Does it really care? Or does the lie keep me…
All propped up.
Now in my mind is a thought staring at the lie as the
lie stares at me.
Who is god in my mind.
Where did this all start the beginning of this lie that I am now stuck
in
How do I find the way out of my own mind as it crumbles
What is the lie that started the lie that keeps me,
All propped up.
In the corner of his mind is a man
It sits there looking at me as though he were god
Knowing that he can keep him alive or kill him
With that in mind where does he go
Nowhere, so he just sits there in the corner of the mind of the lie
Staring in loss and confusion.
All propped up.
Stephen Nantz had been tossing around the idea of writing for sometime now. That changed this year after he completed a role playing game that is currently being revised and edited. Stephen finished his first novel last month and it is slated for release fall 2006 by Elitist Publications LLC. As if that weren't enough, he has also written a tremendous amount of poetry recently.
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